Process for Making a Honey Product Having a Low Water Content

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to a process for making a honey product having a low water content as well as honey products obtained using the process. The honey product retains the physical and palatable properties of untreated honey while having a prolonged shelf-life. It can be advantageously used to sweeten beverages (such as hot beverages) and in the manufacture of throat lozenges and/or confectionery.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/144,753, which is a national phase application under 35 U.S.C. §371of International Application No. PCT/CA2010/000058 filed Jan. 15, 2010,which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/144,824filed Jan. 15, 2009, and Canadian Patent Application No. 2,649,936 filedJan. 15, 2009. The entire contents of each of the above-referenceddisclosures is specifically incorporated by reference herein withoutdisclaimer.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to a process for making honey producthaving a low water content using a specific temperatures associated witha vacuum drying step as well as honey products obtained by this process.This honey product possesses an increased shelf-life with respect to theoriginal liquid honey. Further, its taste and color are very similar tothose of the original liquid honey. In addition, the sugars in the honeyproduct are not crystallized. The honey product can optionally bewrapped in a water-impermeable package that limits the reabsorption ofwater by the honey product. The honey product could be directly added tobeverages to sweeten them. It can also be further processed to be usedin upper respiratory care product as well as a confectionery.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Honey is an excellent source of easily digestible sugars. It is largelycomposed of glucose and fructose, monosaccharides that are rapidlyabsorbed and metabolized by the organism. It also contains volatilecomponents which makes it a very palatable ingredient. Honey may containenzymes, pollen and propolis which have been recognized as havingexcellent health benefits.

However, the shelf-life of honey is rather limited since it willeventually (within days, weeks or months) crystallize. Thecrystallization of honey is not necessarily harmful, but it modifies thetexture of the product to a more granulated one, which is less appealingfor the consumer. In addition, during the crystallization process, wateractivity is increased, thereby facilitating microbial growth (such asyeast growth and/or fermentation). Further, since honey is usuallypackaged and stored as a liquid, it limits its application in the foodindustry.

Therefore, several attempts have been made to manufacture a honeyproduct having a lower moisture content than original liquid honey. Forexample, unprocessed honey has been submitted to vacuum drying (refer,for example, to the abstract of JP2003304819A2, the abstract ofJP02207762 as well as U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,650, U.S. Pat. No. 7,101,582),lyophilization (U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,035), extrusion drying (U.S. Pat.No. 4,919,956), thin film drying (U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,956, U.S. Pat. No.4,536,973, U.S. Pat. No. 7,101,582) or even spray-drying (U.S. Pat. No.7,101,582). However, because of the hygroscopic nature of honey, theremoval of water is rather difficult and the resulting product stillcontains a high moisture content. For example, when untreated honey issubmitted to freeze drying, it has a tendency to foam thereby limitingthe amount of water that can be removed.

Because honey is supersaturated in sugars, its boiling point is muchlower than a solution saturated in sugar, corn syrup or maple syrup. Assuch, the chemical structure changes that are induced by the exposure toheat occur more rapidly in honey than in any other sweetener orsugar-based solution. Consequently, honey has to be submitted to hightemperatures for a prolonged amount of time in order to remove the waterit contains. This badly affects the chemically-physical and palatablecharacteristics of honey. When abused by heat, the honey turns bitterand loses its typical honey flavor and physical characteristics. Inorder to circumvent this problem, additives have sometimes been added tothe honey prior to the removal of the water.

It would be highly desirable to be provided with a honey product havinga low water content as well as process for making same. The honeyproduct would have a more prolonged shelf-life than the original liquidhoney. It is preferred that the honey product possesses the distinctivetaste and color of the original liquid honey.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to a honey product having a low watercontent. The honey product is a pure honey product.

According to a first aspect, the present disclosure provides a processfor making a solid honey product having a moisture content lower thanabout 1% (w/w). Broadly, the process comprises (i) heating a liquidhoney to a temperature of at least 98° C. to obtain a heated liquidhoney; (ii) applying a pressure of at least 27 inHg to the heated liquidhoney to obtain a dehydrated honey product having a moisture contentlower than about 1%; and (iii) cooling the dehydrated honey to ambienttemperature to obtain the solid honey product. In an embodiment, themoisture content of the solid honey product is lower than about 0.1%. Inanother embodiment, the process further comprises (iv) packaging thesolid honey product in a water-impermeable membrane. In yet anotherembodiment, the process further comprises (iv) formulating the solidhoney product in an upper respiratory care product (such as, forexample, a throat lozenge). In still a further embodiment, the processfurther comprises (iv) formulating the solid honey product in aconfectionery. In yet a further embodiment, the process furthercomprises (iv) processing the solid honey product in a granular form, acrushed form, a grounded form or a powder form. In yet anotherembodiment, the process further comprises (iv) adding an emulsifier, ananti-sticking agent and/or a stabilizer to the solid honey product.

According to a second aspect, the present disclosure provides a solidhoney product having a moisture content having a moisture content lowerthan about 1% (w/w) obtained by the process described herein. In anembodiment, the honey product consisting essentially of honey and havinga moisture content lower than about 1% (w/w). As used herein, the term“consisting essentially of” indicates that the honey product is composedof honey and its usual constituents (refer to the definition of honeybelow) and that no further additives are required to produce the honeyproduct. In embodiment, additional elements can be added to the honeyproduct but they should not materially affect the characteristics of theproduct (such as its moisture content and the absence of crystallizedsugars). The present disclosure also refers to a honey productconsisting of honey and having a moisture content lower than about 1%(w/w), lower than about 0.9%, lower than about 0.8%, lower than about0.7%, lower than about 0.6%, lower than about 0.5%, lower than about0.4%, lower than about 0.3% or lower than about 0.2%. In a furtherembodiment, the moisture content of the honey product is lower thenabout 0.1%, lower than about 0.09%, lower than about 0.08%, lower thanabout 0.07%, lower than about 0.06%, lower than about 0.05%, lower thanabout 0.04%, lower than about 0.03% or lower than about 0.02%. In stillanother embodiment, the moisture content of the honey product is equalto about 0.01%. According to yet another embodiment, the honey productcan also contain a flavor, such as, for example, a lemon flavor (e.g.from a lemon oil). In still a further embodiment, the sugars of thehoney product are in an uncrystallized form, e.g. the sugars that arecontained in the honey do not crystalize. In yet a further embodiment,the honey product is solid. In still another embodiment, the honeyproduct is wrapped in a water-impermeable package. In this particularembodiment, the honey product can have a storage time of a year (ormore) without substantially reabsorbing water. According to anotherembodiment, the present disclosure provides a throat lozenge or an upperrespiratory care and treatment product comprising the honey productdescribed herein. According to still another embodiment, the presentdisclosure provides a confectionery comprising the honey productdescribed herein. In an embodiment, the honey product has further beenprocessed prior to the incorporation into the confectionery.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a honeyproduct having a moisture content of less than 1%. The honey product isnot sticky or tacky and can be used as a sweetener in beverages as wellas in the manufacture of a upper respiratory care and treatment product(such as a throat lozenge) or a confectionery.

The honey product described herein consists essentially of a liquidhoney to which water has been removed. In an embodiment, it is purehoney to which no additive has been added. The honey product is notlimited to any specific manufacturing technique. Since the honey productretains the color, characteristics and the taste of untreated honey,care must be taken in selecting an appropriate manufacturing techniquethat will preserve the original honey color, characteristics and taste.

According to a first aspect, the present disclosure provides a honeyproduct consisting essentially of honey. In a further embodiment, thehoney product consists of honey. As used herein, the term “honey” isreferred to as a product prepared by bees from plant nectars, from plantsecretions and from excretions of plant sucking insects (“honeydew”).Honey can also be referred to as the nectar and saccharine exudations ofplants gathered, modified and stored by the honey bee. The chemicalcomposition of honey varies depending on nectar source, season andproduction methods. Storage conditions may also influence finalcomposition, with the proportion of disaccharides increasing over time.Fructose and glucose are present in relatively equal amounts and are thetwo major sugars present in honey (approximately 70% w/w). Honey alsocontains lesser amounts of sucrose (approximately 1%), otherdisaccharides and oligosaccharides. Gluconic acid, other acids and smallamounts of proteins, enzymes (including glucose oxidase), amino acidsand minerals may also be present. Potassium is the major mineralpresent. Honey is usually mildly acidic with a pH around 3.9. Moisturecontent is low (between 13% to 26% w/w), as is water activity(0.562-0.62).

Any liquid honey can be used in the manufacture of the honey product.The liquid honey can be raw (e.g. untreated), semi-processed (such asstrained or filtered honey) or processed (e.g. pasteurized). The honeyproduct can be made with liquid honey originating from any nectarsource. Nectar sources include, but are not limited to, Acacia, Alfalfa,Apple, Blueberry, Buckwheat, Canola, Clover, Cotton, Cranberry,Dandelion, Gall berry, Goldenrod, Grape, Mesquite, Mexican, Clover,Milkweed, Palmetto, Prune, Rape, Raspberry, Sage, Sourwood, Sunflower,and/or Tupelo. The liquid honey used to manufacture the honey productcan be derived from a single nectar source or from a combination ofnectar sources depending on the desired properties of the final product.

The honey product defined herein has a moisture content lower than about1% (w/w). A pure dried honey product containing more than 1% w/w ofwater has a tendency to become tacky. When the water content of a puredried honey product is elevated around 2 to 3% w/w, the product issticky to the touch. As such, because the honey product described hereinhas a moisture content lower than about 1% w/w, it is not tacky orsticky and can be easily be handled without substantially transferringto the surface manipulating the product (such as the skin or thepackage). In a further embodiment, the honey product has a moisturecontent lower then about 0.1% and in yet another embodiment, equal toabout 0.01%.

The person skilled in the art can easily assess the percentage ofmoisture in a honey product using methods readily known in the art. Themoisture content of a food product is usually defined through thefollowing formula:

% Moisture=(m _(w) /m _(sample))×100

where m_(w) is the mass of the water and m_(sample) is the mass of thesample. The mass of water is related to the number of water molecules(n_(w)) by the following expression:

M _(w) =n _(W) M _(W) /N _(A),

where M_(w) is the molecular weight of water (18.0 g per mole) and N_(A)is Avodagro's number (6.02×10²³ molecules per mole). In principle, themoisture content of a honey product can therefore be determinedaccurately by measuring the number or mass of water molecules present ina known mass of sample. When determining the moisture content of a foodit is important to prevent any loss or gain of water. For this reason,exposure of a sample to the atmosphere, and excessive temperaturefluctuations, should be minimized.

In one embodiment, a spectroscopic method can be used to determine themoisture content of the honey product. Spectroscopic methods utilize theinteraction of electromagnetic radiation with materials to obtaininformation about their composition, e.g., X-rays, UV-visible, NMR,microwaves and IR. The spectroscopic methods developed to measure themoisture content of foods are based on the fact that water absorbselectromagnetic radiation at characteristic wavelengths that aredifferent from the other components in the food matrix. Microwave andinfrared radiation are absorbed by materials due to their ability topromote the vibration and/or rotation of molecules. The analysis iscarried out at a wavelength where the water molecules absorb radiation,but none of the other components in the food matrix do. A measurement ofthe absorption of radiation at this wavelength can then be used todetermine the moisture content: the higher the moisture content, thegreater the absorption. Instruments based on this principle arecommercially available and can be used to determine the moisture contentin a few minutes or less.

In another embodiment, a chemical reaction, such as a colometricreaction, can be used for the determination of moisture in the honeyproduct. The Karl Fischer titration is often used for determining themoisture content of foods that have low water contents (e.g. driedfruits and vegetables, confectionery, coffee, oils and fats). It isbased on the following reaction:

2H₂O+SO₂+I₂→H₂SO₄+2HI

This reaction was originally used because HI is colorless, whereas I₂ isa dark reddish brown color, hence there is a measurable change in colorwhen water reacts with the added chemical reagents. Sulfur dioxide andiodine are gaseous and would normally be lost from solution. For thisreason, the above reaction has been modified by adding solvents (e.g.,C₅H₅N) that keep the S₂O and I₂ in solution, although the basicprinciples of the method are the same. The food to be analyzed isusually placed in a beaker containing solvent and is then titrated withKarl Fischer reagent (a solution that contains iodine). While any waterremains in the sample the iodine reacts with it and the solution remainscolorless (HI), but once all the water has been used up any additionaliodine is observed as a dark red brown color (I₂). The volume of iodinesolution required to titrate the water is measured and can be related tothe moisture content using a pre-prepared calibration curve. Theprecision of the technique can be improved by using electrical methodsto follow the end-point of the reaction, rather than observing a colorchange.

One particular advantage of the product described herein is that, duringits production, no additives are being added to facilitate water removalor to limit the adhesion of the product to its packaging membrane.However, in an embodiment, it is contemplated that a flavor is added tothe honey product described after it has been evaporated. The addedflavor may be, for example, a sweet or a savory flavor. Sweet flavorsinclude, but are not limited to fruits (peach, pear, apple), citrus(orange, lemon, lime), berry (raspberry, strawberry, blueberry), spice(vanilla, cinnamon, clove, lavender), caramel, butterscotch, maple.Savory flavors include, but are not limited to, ginger, pepper (black,white, pink, green, hot), etc. Other flavors, such as coffee, tea,herbal tea and/or alcohol, can also be added. In an embodiment, theflavor can be derived from an oil. If a flavor is added to the honeyproduct, care must be taken that the added flavor does not substantiallyaugments the moisture content of the final honey product higher thanabout 1% w/w.

Another advantage of the honey product described herein is that themajority of the sugars present are in an uncrystallized form. As usedherein the term “uncrystallized” refer to the absence of sugar crystalsthat can be felt in the mouth and/or visible to the naked eye. The honeyproduct has a smooth texture and does not contain granulated honeycrystals which can be seen by the naked eye or felt in the mouth.

During storage, liquid honey has a tendency to take on a semi-solidstate known as “crystallized” or “granulated honey”. This naturalphenomenon happens when the glucose present in honey spontaneouslyprecipitates out of the supersaturated honey solution. By becoming aglucose monohydrate, glucose loses water and takes the form of acrystal. As used herein, a “crystal” or a “honey crystal” is referred toas a solid body with a precise and orderly structure that can be felt inthe mouth or be visible to the human eye. Once formed, the honeycrystals organize into a lattice which immobilizes other components ofhoney in a suspension thus creating the semi-solid state. The water thatwas previously associated with the glucose becomes available for otherpurposes, thus increasing the moisture content in some parts of thecontainer of honey. Because of the increased moisture, the liquid honeybecomes more susceptible to microbial growth (such as yeast growth).

In still a further embodiment, the honey product is a solid honeyproduct. It is contemplated that the honey product will be solid atambient temperature and at normal atmospheric pressure. As used herein“solid honey product” refers to a substance derived from honey that isnot liquid and that can be used as a source of nourishment. The honeyproduct can be easily handled because it is not tacky or soft.

In yet another embodiment, the honey product is a pure and/or driedhoney product. As used herein, the term “pure” honey product refers to aproduct that is free or substantially free from exogenous additives withrespect to the original liquid honey. On the other hand, a “dried” honeyproduct refers to the fact that the moisture content is limited to nomore than 1% w/w.

Because of the hygroscopic nature of honey, the honey product will tendto reabsorb water if it is not placed in a water impermeable package.For example, if the product is left at ambient temperature, within acouple of days, it will tend to become tacky and, within a couple ofweeks, it will tend to become sticky or soft. As such, in order toprolong the shelf life of the product, it has to be packaged in awater-impermeable membrane. As used herein, a “water-impermeablepackage” or “water-impermeable membrane” refers to a material thatlimits the transmission of water vapor. In an embodiment, the watervapor transmission rate (WVTR) of the “water-impermeable” package ormembrane is below 0.1 gm/100 in² or below about 0.01 gm/100 in². Becausethe honey product is mainly used as a food or as a food additive, thepackage must be of food or pharmaceutical grade. Further, since thepackage can optionally be submitted to heat to seal it around the honeyproduct, the package or membrane must also be resistant to heat.

When the honey product is wrapped in a water-impermeable package, itsstorage time is of about a year or even more (depending on the WVTR ofthe package). During storage, the product does not substantiallyreabsorb water and as such its water content is substantially constant.As used herein, a honey product that does not “substantially” reabsorbwater is a honey product that possesses a water content of less thanabout 1% w/w during its storage. As indicated above, when the watercontent of the honey product exceeds 1% w/w, the honey product becomestacky.

Additional uses of the honey product are also contemplated. Onceproduced, the honey product can be further processed for use in otherfood applications such as confectionary, dessert topping, sweetingredient. The solid honey product can be further powdered, crushed,ground and/or granulated for these additional applications.

Particles can thus be made from the solid honey product and used invarious food applications. For example, when a coarser particle isrequired, the solid honey can be processed into a “granular” formparticles having a size distribution that ranges between about 0.25 and2 mm. On the other hand, when a finer particle is needed, the solidhoney product can be processed into a “powder” form particles having asize distribution that ranges between 62.5 to 125 m. The sizedistribution of the particles can be assessed by the techniques known inthe art, such as the Gates-Gaudin-Schuhmann method, the Rosin-Rammlermethod, the modified Gaudin-Meloy method, the Log-normal method and/orthe modified beta method.

When particles of the solid honey product are produced, it may bedesirable to add a further agent to the particles to prevent or delaywater absorption. Such further agent can be an emulsifier, ananti-sticking agent and/or a stabilizer, including, but not limited tobee wax, carnauba wax, maltodextrin, dextrose or other food processingaids.

Similar to what has been indicated above, the particles of the solidhoney can also be packaged in a water-impermeable membrane to slow down,delay or prevent water reabsorption.

The honey product as described herein can be advantageously used tosweeten a beverage. When the honey product is placed in an aqueous-basedbeverage, it reabsorbs water and dissolves to sweeten the beverage. Theapplication of the honey product is not limited to a specific type ofbeverage or to beverages having a specific temperature. However, thesweetening process will be accelerated in hot beverages. Hence, in anembodiment, the honey product is advantageously used in hot beveragessuch as coffee, tea and herbal tea.

Since honey has been recognized as an antimicrobial product, the honeyproduct described herein can be used in the manufacture of upperrespiratory care and treatment products such as throat lozenges. Theupper respiratory care and treatment product can either consist of thehoney product described herein or can be combined with other additivesused in the art for their manufacture.

Because of the excellent palatable properties of honey, the honeyproduct described herein can be further processed into a confectionery.In order to introduce the honey product into a confectionery, and asindicated above, it can be physically processed (crushed, powdered,coated in a solution) and/or flavors can be added. Alternatively orconcomitantly, the manufacturing process of the product can also bealtered to introduce additional components of the confectionery.

As indicated above, the honey product is not limited to a specificmanufacturing technique. In one advantageous embodiment and as shownbelow, the liquid honey is submitted to vacuum drying to lower its watercontent and generate the honey product. The time, temperature andpressure variables used should be designed to generate a honey producthaving similar characteristics (smell and taste) as the original liquidhoney. However, upon water evaporation, it is assumed that the honeywill have a decrease in flavor intensity and stickiness and that thesweetness level of product could be perceived as different than in theliquid honey.

In an embodiment, the liquid honey is first heated from ambienttemperature to at least 98° C. under a pressure of at least 27 inHg. Asit is known in the art, the time to reach the desired temperature willdepend on the amount of liquid honey that is being processed as well asthe content of original the liquid honey (such as its moisture content).Once the temperature of the liquid honey reaches at least 98° C., thetemperature is not further raised but the vacuum (e.g. pressure of atleast 27 inHg) is maintained until the desired moisture is reached (lessthan about 1% w/w). As it is known in the art, the time required toreach the desired moisture content also depends on the amount of honeythat is being processed and the content of the original liquid honey(such as its moisture content). Optionally, the honey product can bedispensed and packaged.

The present invention will be more readily understood by referring tothe following examples which are given to illustrate the inventionrather than to limit its scope.

EXAMPLE I Production of Honey Product

The following ingredients were used in the production of the honeyproduct:

-   -   Liquid honey containing a blend of white clover, red clover        and/or dandelion that is extracted, liquefied, filtered and        short time pasteurized; and    -   Optionally, lemon oil.

The following material was also used in the production of the honeyproduct:

-   -   Water-impermeable food-grade packaging;    -   Food grade PVC packaging trays; and    -   High barrier to moisture food grade sealing film.

The following equipment was used in the production of the honey product:

-   -   Weighing scale;    -   Electronic universal mixer;    -   Thermocouple Thermometer;    -   Infra-red (IR) moisture meter; and    -   Heat sealer.

Lab and pilot plant trials were carried out to determine theevaporation, dispensing and packaging processes of the honey product. Inaddition, the lemon flavored honey product was developed following thesourcing of an appropriate lemon flavoring.

Untreated honey was first submitted to a gross evaporation step whereliquid honey was gradually heated from ambient temperature to at least98° C. and at least at 27 inHg vacuum. Once at 98° C., the temperatureof the honey was held, and the pressure was applied (at least at 27 inHgvacuum) until the desired moisture content of the product was reached(less than about 1% w/w as measured by the IR moisture meter). Throughthis process, an evaporation could take place while maintaining thelight brown appearance and flavor of natural untreated honey. Theevaporated honey was then individually dispensed. The product was cooledand solidified at ambient temperature. The honey product was packagedand heat sealed. The honey product was further packaged into cardboardboxes and stored prior to its characterization. Optionally, a lemonflavoring was added to the evaporated honey prior to the dispensing ofthe honey product. The honey product possessed a shelf life of one year.

EXAMPLE II Honey Product Characterization

Prior to dispensing the evaporated honey product in the molding trays, a5 g. aliquot was removed to determine the moisture content using and IRmoisture meter (as described in Example I) in order to rapidly assessthe moisture content. The moisture content of the honey product wasevaluated between 0.0 to 1.1% (w/w).

A single batch of the honey product was further characterized. Table 1shows the various analyses performed and the method used.

TABLE 1 Analyses performed on the honey product. Analysis MethodReference Total Metals Analysis in Food by inductively EPA 6010 coupledplasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) Ash AOAC 923.03Beta-Carotene AOAC 922.04, 922.06 Calories Calculation CarbohydratesCalculation Cholesterol AOAC 976.26/994.1 Fatty Acid Profile by GC/FIDAOAC 996.06 KJ Calculation Moisture (Karl Fischer) AOAC 926.08 925.10Protein AOAC 992.15 Retinol AOAC 992.04 992.06 Sugar Profile AOAC 980.13Total Dietary Fibre AOAC 991.43 Vitamin A IU/100 g AOAC 992.04, 992.06Vitamin A RE/100 g AOAC 992.04, 992.06 Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid)CFIA/QFCL-001-01 mod

The results of these analyses are shown in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Results obtained from the analyses listed in Table 1. AnalysisUnits Results Energy Cal/100 g 386 kJ/100 g 1615 Protein g/100 g 0.21Fat: GC g/100 g 0.073 Polyunsaturates g/100 g 0.004 Monounsaturatesg/100 g 0.023 Saturates g/100 g 0.041 Trans g/100 g 0.001 Omega-3Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids g/100 g 0.001 Omega-6 Polyunsaturated FattyAcids g/100 g 0.003 Cholesterol mg/100 g <1.0 Carbohydrates g/100 g 96.1Total Sugars g/100 g 80.9 Fructose g/100 g 44.8 Glucose g/100 g 35.4Sucrose g/100 g ND Maltose g/100 g 0.7 Lactose g/100 g ND Total DietaryFibre g/100 g <0.1 Sodium mg/100 g ND Potassium mg/100 g 80 Vitamin AIU/100 g ND RE/100 g ND Retinol ug/100 g ND Beta Carotene ug/100 g <10Vitamin C mg/100 g 1.1 Calcium mg/100 g 11 Iron mg/100 g ND Moisture:Karl Fischer g/100 g 0.349 Ash g/100 g 0.1

Per serving of 20 g., the honey product contains 80 calories, 15 mg. ofpotassium and 19 g. of carbohydrate (16 g. of sugar).

While the invention has been described in connection with specificembodiments thereof, it will be understood that it is capable of furthermodifications and this application is intended to cover any variations,uses, or adaptations of the invention following, in general, theprinciples of the invention and including such departures from thepresent disclosure as come within known or customary practice within theart to which the invention pertains and as may be applied to theessential features hereinbefore set forth, and as follows in the scopeof the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A process for making a solid honey product havinga moisture content lower than about 1% (w/w), said process comprising:(i) heating a liquid honey to a temperature of at least 98° C. to obtaina heated liquid honey; (ii) applying a pressure of at least 27 inHg tothe heated liquid honey to obtain a dehydrated honey product having amoisture content lower than about 1%; and (iii) cooling the dehydratedhoney to ambient temperature to obtain the solid honey product.
 2. Theprocess of claim 1, wherein the moisture content of the solid honeyproduct is lower than about 0.1%.
 3. The process of claim 1, furthercomprising (iv) packaging the solid honey product in a water-impermeablemembrane.
 4. The process of claim 1, further comprising (iv) formulatingthe solid honey product in an upper respiratory care product.
 5. Theprocess of claim 4, wherein the upper respiratory care product is athroat lozenge.
 6. The process of claim 1, further comprising (iv)formulating the solid honey product in a confectionery.
 7. The processof claim 1, further comprising (iv) processing the solid honey productin a granular form, a crushed form, a grounded form or a powder form. 8.The process of claim 1, further comprising (iv) adding an emulsifier, ananti-sticking agent and/or a stabilizer to the solid honey product.
 9. Asolid honey product having a moisture content lower than about 1% (w/w)obtained by the process of claim 1.